


A Start

by skylanterns



Category: Johnny's Entertainment, SixTONES (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bookstore, Alternate Universe - College/University, Christmas Party, Fluff, How Do I Tag, I seriously don't know how this works, Jesse is cringy, M/M, Mentions of Snow Man, Shin is the best boi, i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:09:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28153647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skylanterns/pseuds/skylanterns
Summary: Kouchi just wanted a nice, quiet weekend. Taiga had other plans for him.Or, Jesse was disaster personified and Kouchi didn't seem to care.
Relationships: Kouchi Yugo & Jesse Lewis, Kouchi Yugo/Jesse Lewis
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10
Collections: SixTONES Christmas/New Year Fic Exchange





	A Start

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kleif_asu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kleif_asu/gifts).



> Hello recipient-san!
> 
> I tried to follow your request (with some slight changes) but I hope you'll like it!

Kouchi woke up extra early this chilly winter morning. The sequel of his favourite book came out today, and he couldn’t afford to miss it. His weekend was already cleared out so he could just chill at home and read.

He opened his front door and a cold breeze swept his face. ‘So cold,’ he thought. But he fought against himself and tightened his scarf around his neck. He walked up to his local bookstore at nine in the morning, and saw some staff members just starting to open up the shop. He was slightly worried that they would take their time setting up things for the day because his class would start thirty minutes later.

He checked his watch. 9:05 AM. He was a man who values punctuality seriously, and contemplated on walking away so he wouldn’t be late for his first class, but as soon as he thought about it, the sign on the glass door of the shop changed from ‘Closed’ to ‘Open’.

He pushed the glass door open and immediately, warm air was blown to his face. He basked in the heat for a few seconds, forgetting the memory of him shivering in the cold outside. Realizing that he was probably blocking the door, he hurriedly walked up to the section where the new releases were usually put up. A bunch of books were displayed in the very center of the store, with varying titles and genres.

He circled around the area a few times, but just couldn’t find the book he was looking for. Giving up, he approached a staff member putting new manga volumes into the shelves. 

“Um, excuse me, but where can I find Gemstones? I couldn’t find it in the place where the new books were supposed to be.”

The staff member was crouching down when Kouchi spoke, and when he stood up to put the manga in his hands to the higher shelves, he was so impressively taller than him that he had to look up to see his face. He was probably around Kouchi’s age and had dyed his hair gray. Or was it green? Kouchi wasn’t sure. He also noticed that he was probably a foreigner, and afraid he had to speak English to have a conversation with him. He immediately regretted not paying much attention to Mr. Abe’s class. But before his thoughts could go any further, the man spoke, “Gemstones?” The man put his hand on his chin, his other hand on his elbow and then crossed his brows. “Oh, the new book of Date-sensei?” 

“Yup, that one!” the guy finally looked at him and froze. It’s been like that for like five seconds that Kouchi was afraid that something wrong was happening. He waved his arms in front of him, “Uh, hello?”

The taller man seemed to jump out of his trance and spluttered, “Uh, I, uh— No! I wasn’t staring!” 

“I didn’t say that, though?” Kouchi furrowed his brows, a little worried because the guy was so red in the face and kept walking backwards.

“Be careful!” Kouchi reached out his hand as the taller one, Jesse—written on his nametag—was about to slip and fall down on the opened boxes behind him. But Kouchi didn’t realize that he was way lighter than the other guy, and everything went by so fast that he found himself half-sprawled on top of Jesse, arms and limbs all over the place. For some reason, Jesse’s face was a little more flushed than before. Kouchi was about to get up when Jesse moved at the same time, resulting in them falling down again and even more tangled.

“I— I’m so so s—sorry!” Jesse was panicking and Kouchi slowly got up. He reached out his hand. “Are you okay?” Jesse took Kouchi’s offered hand and probably realized that he was too heavy so he used his other hand to help himself get up.

Jesse couldn’t look at Kouchi’s eyes. “Y-yeah, I’m okay. I’m sorry again. I, uh, will try to find the book you’re looking for.”

Before Kouchi could say anything, Jesse jogged to the backroom of the bookstore. He checked his watch again; it was fifteen minutes past nine. Horrified, he quickly left the bookstore and ran to the university.

* * *

When Jesse got to the backroom, he quickly covered his face with his hands out of embarrassment and slid down. 

Shintaro went up to him, “What happened to you?”

Jesse looked at him between his fingers and replied in the most pathetic tone his co-worker heard, “Oh no Shintaro! I messed up so baaad!”

Confused, he asked again, “What happened? Why did you mess up?”

Now with an audience, Jesse was wailing louder. If it was anyone else, Jesse would’ve gotten on their nerves after a few moments with him. But Shintaro was used to his friend’s antics, and waited patiently for him to explain his situation.

When he calmed down a little, Jesse started to talk, “I met the cutest guy and then I made a fool out of myself.” And then continued to cover his face with his hands.

Shintaro didn’t know what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t… that. “So you gay-panicked?” he deadpanned.

Jesse stood up to defend himself, “No! I mean, yes! I mean— Ugh!”

Shintaro crossed his arms and leaned on one side, “Bro, you gay-panic like, every week.”

“Today’s different! He’s the cutest of all people I’ve met and he looks like an angel and even reads Date-sensei’s books!” Jesse finished and froze.

“Oh, wait— the book! Shintaro, do we already have Gemstones?” he shook Shintaro’s shoulders in urgency.

Shintaro was getting dizzy but he managed to reply, “Yeah, I was about to put them out when you suddenly barged in here.”

Jesse stopped shaking him and went to get the book from one of the boxes and ran out. Shintaro was a little bit curious what the guy looked like so he followed him. Jesse kept changing aisles and probably looked around the whole bookstore but they didn’t find any customer.

“Maybe they already left?” Shintaro thought aloud.

Jesse’s shoulders slumped. He handed the book to Shintaro and wordlessly went back to the manga section.

* * *

Kouchi barely made it. Good thing Mr. Fukazawa was a little late today, or he would’ve been scolded for ten whole minutes. He sat down while panting and wiping his sweat.

“Wow, Mr. Punctuality is actually late,” the person from his left tapped his arm with his pen. 

Kouchi just rolled his eyes. “Shut up, Taiga.”

The blond just laughed, “Hey, Juri invited us to celebrate Christmas this weekend with him. He said that his brother recently got back from the States and gave him too many souvenirs or whatever. So he wanted to have a mini party in his unit.”

Kouchi looked at him, “Will Hokuto be there?”

“Of course, duh! He’s my boyfriend and Juri’s best friend,” Taiga said matter-of-factly.

Kouchi just sighed and opened his notebook, “If I’m gonna third wheel then I’d rather sleep at home.”

Taiga shook his arm, “Come on, it’ll be fun! Plus Juri will be inviting some of his friends from another university, it’s your chance to mingle with other people!” Taiga suddenly gave him a knowing look, “And you know, maybe score someone cute for Christmas!”

Kouchi looked at him with an uninterested face, “You do remember I’m an introvert, right?”

Before Taiga could reply, Mr. Fukazawa entered the classroom.

* * *

“Jesse, you’re the only one that could fit inside this, so you should be the one to wear it,” Shintaro was trying to keep a straight face but failing nonetheless.

“Why do I have to be the one to do this? You can do it too, Shintaro!” Jesse was trying to reason out with him but he couldn’t think of good comebacks.

“You know that it’ll just look wrinkled on me, and Sir Aiba even said you should wear it,” Shintaro was not even trying to hide his laugh anymore.

Jesse grimaced. The mascot was a white fox dressed in a kimono with an enormous head and a round body, and although it was cute, he wasn’t exactly fond of getting inside a hot costume to attract customers. But a job is a job, so he begrudgingly slipped on the costume when the sun went down.

* * *

Kouchi was still hoping to buy the book today, so once his last class was dismissed, he immediately left the classroom and speed-walked to the bookstore from earlier. He remembered Jesse, and silently laughed at the memory. Maybe he shouldn’t ask him again so he wouldn’t embarrass Jesse even further, or worse, get himself in trouble while on his shift.

Once he got there, there was a commotion in front of the bookstore but he couldn’t see much as a bunch of staff were crowding the door and kept yelling at each other. One was even doubled-over laughing. Curious, he walked up to them and was shocked at the scene in front of him. Someone got stuck on the door! Not particularly someone, but a mascot, and a cute one to boot! He couldn’t help but chuckle lightly, but the mascot seemed to notice him and struggled even more which made the staff angrier.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder; it was the staff that was obnoxiously laughing a few moments ago. Kouchi looked at his nametag, Shintaro. He was led to a smaller door so he could come inside. He finally found Gemstones in the new arrivals section and went up in line to get the book checked out. While in line, he looked at the door and saw that the staff were still pushing and pulling the mascot so he could get outside. He smiled at the hilarity of the scene. When it was finally his turn, he paid for the book and left through the small door again.

Once outside, he saw that the mascot was finally unstuck from the door and started to wave at passing potential customers. It was so adorable, waving it’s short arms like that and walking side to side. Unable to resist the cuteness, he walked up to the huge white fox.

He smiled brightly, “Hello! Can I take a picture with you?”

The smiling fox turned its head at him and suddenly stopped, its hand frozen in mid-air. Kouchi’s smile was getting lower by the second that the mascot was not responding until one of the staff members—Shintaro to be exact— hit the mascot on the back of its head and scolded it.

“Hey, a customer wants to take a picture with you! Why aren’t you answering?” Shintaro reprimanded. He turned to Kouchi, “I’m so sorry for that, do you want me to take a picture of the both of you?”

Kouchi smiled again and nodded. He handed him his phone and Shintaro walked backwards so he could maximize the space. When Shintaro started counting, Kouchi wore his brightest smile and hugged the mascot. It was so soft that he could melt in its arms. He could’ve sworn that the mascot flinched but he deemed it only as his imagination. Once he got his phone back, he thanked the two of them and went on his way.

Once Kouchi was out of sight, Jesse slumped down with the mascot’s arms and legs on the ground and cried loudly. Shintaro was surprised at Jesse’s action and bonked him on his head while laughing. “What’s gotten into you?” he asked.

Jesse cried loudly, “Shintarooo! That’s him! The cutest guy! I made a fool out of myself again!”

Shintaro figured. “Well, he’s certainly cute.”

Jesse stood up and tried to cross his arms but failed because the mascot’s arms were too short. “He’s mine, okay?! Don’t you dare like him!”

Shintaro put his arms up like a civilian in front of a police officer, “Woah, chill dude. You don’t even know his name.”

“…You’re right. This is hopeless.” Jesse tried to put his hands on his face but failed once again, so he just settled on lowering his head.

“Get a hold of yourself, you’ll find someone else sooner or later,” Shintaro tapped his shoulder in assurance and went inside.

* * *

Kouchi spent the rest of Friday and Saturday just reading the book that he bought, lack of food and sleep seemingly removed from his priorities. He didn’t even touch his phone so you could say that he was surprised when someone rang the doorbell. Repeatedly.

Frustrated by the noise, he reluctantly got up from his bed and walked downstairs. He kind of regretted opening his door because he was now face to face with a smiling Taiga in a Santa hat. He slowly tried to close his door but Taiga was faster.

“Hold up! You’re coming with us!” Taiga reached out and held his arm in an iron-like grip.

“No! I don’t want to come!” Kouchi tried to get away but he was failing.

“I’ve already told your mom about it so you no longer have a choice,” Taiga smirked devilishly and started pulling him outside. They did a tug of war for a few minutes until Taiga stopped.

“Wait, you stink,” Taiga covered his nose and fanned the air. “This is unacceptable. You shouldn’t be caught smelling like that. Go shower first.” 

Kouchi, thinking that this was his escape route, ran to the bathroom. But when he was about to close the door, he was surprised that Taiga was just behind him.

“I’ll be here in case you intentionally lock yourself inside for hours.” Taiga leaned on the sink and fixed his hair.

Kouchi sighed in frustration. He figured that this was more annoying than him willingly attending to his friend's whims. He was a fool if he thought he could win against one Kyomoto Taiga. He put his thumb and index finger on his temples and closed his eyes, “I give up, you win. I’ll be coming with you so can you please get out of my bathroom?”

Taiga looked at him with eyes that seemed to sparkle. “Really? Then I’ll wait for you in the car, okay? If you’re not still out by fifteen minutes I’m gonna come and get you!” Taiga said in a sing-song way while walking out.

* * *

They stood outside of Juri’s unit and they could already hear the loud music from it. Hokuto knocked on the door, and Juri opened it moments later. How he heard the measly knock with all the booming sounds inside, Kouchi wasn’t sure. Juri welcomed the three of them and gave them a cup each. Kouchi sniffed it and grimaced. He really didn’t like the smell of alcohol.

He put down the cup on a random table and looked around. Juri’s unit was pretty neat, with a few Christmas decorations plastered on the walls, tables and chairs conveniently placed everywhere and a huge balcony that overlooked the city of Tokyo. His two companions were already talking to other people lounging on the couch, and Juri left him to welcome his other guests. It seemed like Juri knew a lot of people by the number of unfamiliar faces inside his place.

He settled on sitting in a corner and opened his phone to keep himself busy from the feelings he was suppressing since he came here. Dread, awkwardness, anxiety. He was alone in a place where he didn't belong. He just wanted to go home.

He looked up from his phone and his eyes roamed around the room to look for Taiga so he could make up excuses and ditch the party. But before he could catch a glimpse of the blond, he saw someone approaching him. His eyes squinted. He looked familiar.

"Hey! Are you alone?" The man asked him with a big smile on his face.

Suddenly Kouchi's defenses were up, and he crossed his arms. He was not about to talk to someone he didn't know. Even if the person was familiar.

The man put both of his hands up and quickly apologized,"Oh, I'm sorry for that. I should've introduced myself first. I'm Shintaro, but you can call me Shin," he smiled again. "Juri's in three of my classes so you could say that we're pretty close, I guess. I also work at Shiro Kitsune bookstore, you probably know that, right?"

At the mention of his local bookstore, Kouchi perked up, "Oh yeah, I go there often! Nice to meet you, I'm Kouchi."

Shintaro rubbed his chin as if he was stroking an invisible beard, "So your name is Kouchi. Actually I have a friend who wants to meet you." 

Shintaro beamed and pointed his thumb towards his back. Both of them looked in that direction, and Kouchi saw someone peering at them, half-hiding behind a closet. When that person realized that the two people were staring, he flinched and reluctantly revealed himself. He scratched the back of his head bashfully while walking up to them.

When Kouchi could clearly see his face, he exclaimed, "Jesse?"

Jesse's eyes grew wide and he stammered,"Y-You know me?"

Kouchi chuckled and said,"I saw it on your nametag! Remember when I was asking you about Gemstones?"

Jesse quickly covered his face,"Please forget about that incident, that was so embarrassing!"

Kouchi laughed even more, "No worries, no worries. I haven't told anyone about it."

"Please stop laughing!"

Kouchi was oddly amused by the silliness of Jesse's words and actions that he couldn't stop smiling. He was trying to console him but it always got worse because he was laughing every time. He managed to contain his laugh after a few minutes and Jesse tried to relax himself so his face wouldn't be so red. Shintaro excused himself after a while, saying he didn't want to third wheel anymore which earned him a smack from Jesse. 

Kouchi's stomach grumbled a little loudly, and he immediately covered his stomach with his arms and smiled at Jesse awkwardly. Jesse laughed when he heard it. Kouchi was ready to be annoyed because he was laughing at him, but he was thrown off guard by the sound of Jesse's laugh. It was just so… Animated. It was uninhibited, warm and friendly, like running on a hill during a sweet summer day, with the wind blowing on your face. He didn't realize that he was soon joining his laugh, until the two of them had tears in their eyes. 

Jesse motioned for him to follow after, and they went to the dining room to grab some food. There was a huge variety of meals in front of them, including some foreign stuff Kouchi couldn’t name, and couldn't be bothered to know. They settled on some light snacks and juice and carried them up to the balcony, which was surprisingly empty of guests. They sat side by side on the bench and silently ate.

It went on for a good ten minutes until Jesse couldn't take it anymore. He cleared his throat. "Uh… So you read the Stones series?"

Kouchi stopped eating the gingerbread in his hand and exclaimed, "Yes! Date-sensei's works are my favorite! Do you read them too? I was currently reading Gemstones before I was dragged here, actually."

Jesse beamed at him, "Me too! I was planning to buy it after I get my paycheck for this month so please don't give me spoilers!" He made a cross sign with his arms and furrowed his brows.

Kouchi laughed, "I won't. Oh, if you want, I could let you borrow mine after I finish it. I'm seventy percent done with it, I think."

Jesse waved his hands in front of him and said, "Oh no, I couldn't! I should acquire it with my hard-earned money."

"It's fine! It's not a bother for me. And the bookstore was on the way to my university, so it wouldn't be a hassle," Kouchi assured him with a thumbs up. 

Jesse gave up the fight and said, "Alright, if it's okay with you." He directed a crooked smile at Kouchi.

Both of them continued eating when suddenly Kouchi spoke, "Oh, but how will I notify you when I'm coming?"

Jesse thought for a moment and offered, "Um, I can give you my number… If you want." He said that while looking away, Kouchi would probably notice that the taller one was blushing if it wasn't for the lack of lighting in the area.

Kouchi removed his phone from his pocket and lit it up. 

Jesse gasped.

Confused, Kouchi looked at him, "Is something the matter?"

Jesse looked everywhere but him and wrung his hands. "Ah! it's nothing! Yeah, nothing," he stammered and forced a laugh.

"Oh, for a second I thought you got scared by my wallpaper," Kouchi said and tried to hide a snicker behind his hands.

His companion waved his hands in front of him, "W-w-what wallpaper? I'm not looking at you hugging a mascot! N-not that I actually looked, okay?!" Jesse was starting to babble incoherent thoughts while obviously panicking.

Kouchi wanted to tease him a little more and said, "Why won't you look at my wallpaper?" He pouted slightly and waved his phone with his wallpaper displayed, "It's really really cute! The fox was so soft and so warm and I loved hugging it!" He put his phone in his chest and sighed dramatically. "I wish I could hug it again."

Jesse fell off from the bench. He covered his face with his hands. Above him, Kouchi was laughing out loud.

"Why did you do that? Do you need to say something?" Kouchi asked, words mixed with mirth.

Jesse stood up and sat back on the bench hesitantly, "I-I think you already know…"

Kouchi laughed lightly and looked at his phone. "I wasn't sure, honestly. I was trying to make a guess but I didn't expect you to confirm it." Kouchi furrowed his eyebrows, "Hmmm I guess it was your perfume? The smell was pretty unique but I couldn't just make conclusions, right?"

Jesse sniffed his collar, "Does… Does my perfume smell bad?"

"That wasn't what I meant by unique! It smells really good!"

"Really?"

"Really."

They shared laughs at the hilarity of their conversation. As Christmas eve came to a close, a new bond was made between them. Maybe not as close as friends but definitely something more than acquaintances, in which the both of them were willing to change.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello again, 
> 
> Honestly this is my first fic in ao3 and I'm still adjusting to stuff so please forgive me if it's not what you expected (〒﹏〒)


End file.
